Game



May 26, 1925. 1,538,889

w. c. FARNUM GAME Filed Aug. 15, 1925 2 Shets-Sheet 1 ATTORNE'Y May 26, 1925. 1,538,889

W. C. FARNUM GAME.

Filed Aug. 15, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GAME.

Application filed August 15, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. FARNUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vinchendon, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Games, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings represent- 1 ing like parts.

This invention relates to games and more particularly to a game oi: chance whereby the score made is determined by the position at which a ball or balls come to rest upon a board.

Various means may be provided for rolling a ball over a board so that it may come to rest at any one of a number of different positions upon the board, but if the game played is to be strictly a game of chance it is desirable to provide means for imparting movement to a ball so that the position at which the ballcomes to rest cannot be governed by a special knowledge or skill on the part of a player.

An important feature of the present invention, therefore, resides in a ball whirler which is rotatably supported so that it may be operated to rotate a ball for a period 8 of time above the board before delivering the ball to the board with a whirling movement. As a result of this construction the score made will be due entirely to chance and not to the skill of a player.

..5 A more specific feature of the invention resides ina ball whirler that is rotatably supported to roll a ball upon. a board, and comprising an outwardly extending arm having a ball runway and a ball seat at the outer end of the arm against which a ball may be thrown and held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity, whereupon the whirling ball will drop upon the board to roll thereupon.

a5 It is desirable that the upper face of the board be so constructed that a ball may come to rest in any one of a number of different predetermined positions; for example in any one of a number of different depressions or pockets, and various differ- Serial No. 657,553.

ent methods may be devised for counting the score determined by the position at which different balls come to rest upon the board. a

- Another feature of the invention, therefore, resides in the construction of the upper face of the board and in the manner in which the same is laid oil for the count ing of the score.

The above and other features of the invention will be more fully hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view looking down upon the game of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the parts of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified construction of a ball whirler.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 8. v

Fig. 5 is a plan view of still a different construction of a ball whirler; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

The board or table 10 upon which the balls may roll to different positions may be constructed of wood or other materials, and its upper face may be variously constructed depending upon the number of the ball receiving depressions or pockets it is desired to provide and their location. The board 10 shown has a circular configuration in the form of a solid disk and is provided 5 with eighteen ball-receiving pockets 11 arranged about a central point to form different geometrical figures. However the number and disposition of the pockets 11 may obviously be varied as desired.

The board 10 preferably is provided with a surrounding wall 12 which prevents the balls from rolling off thetable, and if desired the board 10 may be mounted in an annular metal box having the bottom 13 and the upstanding sides 12.

Various means may be provided for delivering a ball to the board 10' with a rolling movement, and the means to this end shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will now be described. In these two figures a ball whirler is shown as rotatably mounted upon a post 14 extending upwardly from the central position of the board 10, and the ball whirler consists of a head 15 having one or more outwardly extending arms 16, two arms being shown. The head 15 is rotatably secured to the post 14 by a pin 17 secured to the head and extending downwardly into a central bore of the post 14.

The arms 16 of Figs. 1 and 2 are conveniently constructed of spaced substantially U-shaped wires 18 and 19 the legs of which form runways for the balls 20. The legs of the upper U-shaped wire 19 are spaced apart sufliciently to permit a ball to pass readily between the same, while the legs of the lower U-shaped wire 18 lie sufficiently close to each other to support the ball 20. The space between the legs of the U-shaped wire 18 however is increased near the outer end of the arms 16- to form an opening 21 through which the ball may drop to the board 10, as will be apparent from Fig. 1. v

As a result of this construction a ball may be placed in the runway of one of the arms 16 in the position occupied by the ball 20 of Fig. 1, whereupon the ball whirler may be rotated by grasping the fluted pin 22 secured to the block 15 with the fingers and turning it. This will throw the ball 20 outwardly by centrifugal force along the runway and across the opening 21 to lodge in a seat formed by the curved portion of the wires 18 and 19 as will be apparent from Fig. 2, and the ball will be held in this position by centrifugal force as long as the ball thrower rotates rapidly, but as its speed of rotation decreases the force of gravity will overcome the centrifugal force whereupon the ball will fall through the opening 21 and upon the board 10 with a rolling movement.

From the foregoing when read in connection with the drawing it will be seen that as soon as the ball whirler is rotated the ball is thrown outwardly to the position it occupies in Fig. 2 where it will be rotated over the face of the board until its speed of rotation is decreased sufficiently to permit it to drop through the opening 21 and upon the board. As a result all balls will possess approximately the same amount of rotating energy when they drop upon the board 10, and since a ball rotates above the face of the board a number of times before it drops, the position at which it finally comes to rest will be due entirely to chance and not to the knowledge or skill of the player. I

The U-shaped bars 18 and 19 preferably are inclined upwardly slightly as they extend outwardly so that the balls 20 will normally lie in the position shown in Fig.

1. The inner face of the wall 12 may be lined with paper or the like 23 to prevent the balls from striking against the metal wall 12.

As stated the pockets 11 are shown as arranged to form different geometrical fig ures, and any three adjacent pockets may be regarded as forming a triangle, see for example the triangle a, Z), 0 or Z), c, at. These are regarded as outer triangles and may be given the value of five as will be apparent from Fig. 1, while the triangles 0, d, c and a, c, f are regarded as inner triangles and may be given the value of ten as indicated in Fig. 1.

In playing the game, different players may use differentcolored balls and a player may use at a single play either one or two balls as desired which are placed upon the ball whirler, as shown in Fig. 1, whereupon the whirler is rotated by the player and the ball or balls are delivered to the board 10 with a rolling movement as described. The balls will settle in the pockets 11 and if one should fail to do so the play may be re peated, and the player whose ball completes a geometrical figure is the one who scores. For example let it be assumed that there are balls in two of thepockets of the triangle a, Z), c, then the player whose ball drops in the third pocket of this triangle is entitled to a score of five for completing the triangle. If an inner triangle is completed the player completing the same is entitled to a score of ten.

If a player completes the parallelogram a, Z), (Z, 0, formed of two outer triangles he is entitled to twice the score of the two triangles or to a score of twenty, and if he completes the parallelogram a, Z), 0, f, formed of an outer and an inner triangle he is entitled to twice the value of each triangle or to a score of thirty. If a player completes the inner hexagon c, c, g, It, i, f, he is entitled to a score of one hundred and twenty.

Various other modes of scoring may be used if desired and if a simple form is de sired each pocket may be given a low number and the geometrical arrangement of the pockets may be disregarded. The upper face of the board 10 preferably slopes from its outer periphery and from the central post 14 toward the inner row of pockets 11 as will be apparent from the section of this board shown in Fig. 2.

As stated the ball whirler may be variously constructed, and in Figs. 3 and 4 a modification of the same is shown consisting of an elongated channel bar 24 conveniently formed of wood and having spaced side walls 25 between which is provided the ball runway. The end and upper portion of the runway may be closed by a long narrow strip of metal or stiff paper 26 which may be secured to the lower face of the bar '24: and may then extend upwardly over the ends of the bar as at 27 and rest upon the upper face of the bar as at 28. Openings 30 in this strip permitvthe balls to drop through the openings to the board 10, and the portions 27 of the strip slope outwardly as they extend upwardly to form the ball seats in which the balls 20 are held by centrifugal force. Pins 31 extending across the ball runways prevent the balls from rolling outward to the holes 30 before a whirling movement has been imparted to the ball whirler.

In Figs. 5 and 6 still another modification of the ball whirler is shown, and consists of a bar 32 of wood or other material channelled out as at 33 to form the ball runways. Openings 34: are provided near the ends of the bar through which the balls may drop to the board 10, and the ball seats at the ends of the bar are formed by the upwardly inclined walls 35 and the cover strips 36, The floor of the ball runways 37 preferably slope upwardly as shown in Fig. 6 to prevent the balls from rolling towards the opening 34 before movement is imparted to the ball whirler.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A game, comprising a board having ball-receiving pockets formed in its upper face about a central point, a wall surrounding the board for preventing balls from escaping therefrom, and a ball whirler rotatably mounted upon said board and comprising an outwardly extending arm having a ball runway and a shallow ball seat at the outer end of the runway and an opening for the ball directly below the ball when it is held against said seat, whereby rotation of the arm throws a ball outwardly' along the runway against the seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity.

2. A game, comprising a board having ball-receiving pockets formed in its upper face, a wall surrounding the board for preventing balls from escaping therefrom, and a ball whirler rotatably mounted upon the board and comprising an arm having a ball runway and a shallow ball seat at the outer end of the runway and an opening below said seat and into which the ball extends while engaging said seat, whereby rotation of the arm throws a ball outwardly along the runway against the seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity and the ball drops through said opening onto the board.

3. A game, comprising a board upon which a ball may roll to different positions, and a ball whirler rotatably supported for rolling a ball upon the board, comprising an outwardly extending arm having a ball runway, a ball seat at the outer end of the gravity.

runway and an opening larger than the ball and directly below the ball when it engages said seat, where-by rotation of the arm throws ball outwardly along the runway against said seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by 4. A game, comprising a board upon which a ball may roll to different positions, and a ball whirler rotatably supported for rolling a ball upon the board, comprising an outwardly extending arm having a long, narrow ball runway with a ball seat at the outer end of the arm and an opening in the runway below said seat, whereby rotation of the arm throws a ball outwardly along the runway across said opening against said seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity and the ball drops through the opening.

5. A game, comprising a board upon which a ball may roll to different positions, and a ball whirler rotatably supported for rolling a ball upon the board, comprising a pair of outwardly extending arms each formed of rods having a ball runway between the rods and a ball seat at the outer end of the runway, whereby rotation of the arms throws a ball outwardly along each runway against the respective seats where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity.

6. A game, comprising a board upon which a ball may roll to different positions, and a ball whirler rotatably supported for rolling a ball upon the board, comprising an outwardly extending arm having a long, narrow ball runway, means along said run way for normally retaining a ball at the inner end thereof, and a seat at the outer end of the runway whereby rotation of the arm throws a ball outwardly along the runway against said seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is overcome by gravity.

7 A game, comprising a board upon which a ball may roll to different positions, a ball whirler rotatably supported for rolling a ball upon the board comprising an outwardly extending bar having a ball-receiving channel formed longitudinally thereof, a ball seat at the outer end of the chan nel and an opening directly below the center of gravity of the ball when engaging said seat, whereby rotation of the whirler throws a ball outwardly along the channel against the ball seat where it is held by centrifugal force until this force is partly spent and the ball then drops on the board with substantial rolling force.

8. A game, comprising a board having ball receiving pockets provided in its upper face and disposed to form the corners of different geometric figures, a ball thrower pivotally mounted at the center of the board and rotatable to deliver the ball to the table with a rolling movement which will cause it to enter one of the pockets, and the pockets being arranged symmetrically about the axis of rotation of the thrower to form two concentric hexagons and with each pocket disposed at the corner of a triangle, parallelogram and hexagon, so that the player whose ball completes any one of these geometric figures receives a score.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM G. FARNUM. 

